A couple of years ago, a report showed that seven of the 30 ZIP codes that had the highest amount of people incarcerated were located in North Texas. Now, a new effort by The DEC@Redbird is looking to set those returning from incarceration on the path to entrepreneurship.
The Oak Cliff-located innovation hub run by Dallas nonprofit The DEC Network is looking for the inaugural cohort of its new Second Start program, an eight-week boot camp that kicks off next month, designed to provide formerly incarcerated people with entrepreneurial knowledge and resources to start their own businesses, in an effort to bridge the racial wealth gap and boost the area’s economic development.
“It’s really about creating wealth-building opportunities,” Demetra Brown, senior director at The DEC Network, told NTX Inno. “We don’t want to undersell how big entrepreneurship can be when you provide the right technical assistance and entrepreneurial education to help people get started.”
Jamila Sherman, manager of programs and membership at The DEC Network, said the idea for the program was top of mind for many of The DEC’s community partners but also top of mind for The DEC@Redbird due to its location in Oak Cliff, one of the ZIP codes identified in the 2019 report.
In addition to the potential impact on the community surrounding The DEC@Redbird, Brown said the focus on entrepreneurship provides one of the more direct paths to generating income. She said many formerly incarcerated struggle to find jobs after release or even find the right network to help them with job placement, which has a generational effect on the household of that person.
“We have to get creative in the way we approach wealth-building… entrepreneurship has to be a key part of it because when we think about how you actually build assets, whether its homeownership or owning a business, we’re looking to spread that message and hopefully make that available for the community in which we are located in,” Brown said.
The Second Start program will include an eight-week course of business fundamentals, including social media management and cash flow management based on a curriculum developed by a Stanford professor. It will also include personal management courses and support, in addition to business mentorship.
“I don’t want to underestimate how powerful a relationship can be, whether you’re starting a lawn service business or a tech company, referrals for your first client and things of those nature will always be important,” Brown said. “Wraparound support and social support are some of the key things to get acclimated into a new field or new industry, especially in entrepreneurship, which is ever-evolving.”
Upon completion, the participant will get a “business package,” which Brown said will likely be a laptop, something essential to getting any business off the ground. She said it also helps bridge Dallas’ digital divide, in which 40 percent of the city’s households like a stable internet connection.
For the first Second Start cohort, The DEC@Redbird is looking for about 10 members, so it can focus on further developing the program based on the progress and feedback from the first group. To apply, people need to show U.S. citizenship and have been either formerly incarcerated or be the child of someone who is currently incarcerated.
Overall, Brown and Sherman said that beyond the personal impact the Second Start program could have for the formerly incarcerated, they hope the program will kick off a conversation in the region about racial inequality and access to wealth-building resources in addition to removing some of the stigmas that come with hiring and working with the formerly incarcerated.
“Hopefully, that kind of adds more to the conversation… to show there are other entrepreneurs out here as well just trying to take it to the next level,” Sherman said. “So hopefully, we can be like the beacon or spearhead for bridging that gap but hopefully it will at least just start the conversation.”
While the first cohort is small, The DEC@Redbird hopes to host more throughout the year as it builds out the program.
“We want to simplify the messaging around entrepreneurship. Sometimes, we make it seem as if it’s so farfetched and unattainable, where you have to come from a certain background to even start,” Brown said. “So we’re just trying to simplify that message as well, and that regardless of gender, background, or race, if you have an idea and a desire, there are the resources available."
